Winter Activities

Winter in northern Cape Breton is to be enjoyed! Pack ice covers the ocean, causing abundant snowfall to cover both the highlands and the lowlands from December through early April. This is the time when visitors mingle with local residents while enjoying the season’s blessings at a pace even more relaxed than that of the summer.

For cross country skiers, two ski centers offer a combined total of close to 50 kilometers of lowland trail that’s groomed daily for both classic and skating techniques. Additionally, in the highlands the deeper snow covers the low scrub bushes, enabling guided backcountry skiers to travel routes impassable during the summer months, accessing with ease the mountains-meeting-the-sea vistas for which the area is famous.

Snowshoe travelers as well may choose between self-guided outings on signed trails, groomed or natural, or guided wilderness tours in the backcountry mountain terrain.

And if they’re fortunate, before their departure winter visitors will experience our own light show, the Northern Lights, and have yet another reason to remember winter in northern Cape Breton for all their lives.

We offer a wonderful winter vacation experience with cross country skiing and snowshoeing on the scenic majesty of Cape Breton’s Cabot Trail.

The North Highlands Nordic Ski Club was founded in 1977 by a small group of enthusiastic cross country skiers who shared a love of winter and of the splendid scenery in the Northeast Highlands Area of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.

The club is proud to have hosted a number of major national and regional ski races including the 1987 Canada Winter Games, 1989 Canadian Junior Nationals, and the 1986, 1987, 1994 and 1998 Atlantic Championships and numerous Loppets and Provincial Championships.